A Matter of Weeks rather than Months

The Impasse between Harold Wilson and Ian Smith

Synopsis

A Matter of Weeks Rather than Months recounts the action and reaction to Ian Smith's unilateral declaration of Rhodesia's independence, the second such declaration since the American one of 1776. It examines the dilemmas of both sides. Smith's problem was how to legitimise his rebellion to secure crucial investment capital, markets, trade and more. His antagonist, the British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, was determined not to transfer sovereignty until Rhodesia accepted African majority rule in common with the rest of Africa.

Review

Once in a lifetime comes a book which must force a total shift in the thinking person's perception of an epoch, and of all the prominent characters who featured in it. - Michael Hartnack

Author

Dr J R T Wood is a Commonwealth Scholar, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and graduate of Rhodes and Edinburgh universities. He is one of the world's leading historians on Rhodesian and Zimbabwean political and military history.